Eight people affiliated with Occupy Des Moines were arrested this afternoon at the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters in Des Moines.

The eight, whose hands were zip-tied behind their backs, were placed in a police wagon and transported to the Des Moines police station, where they were cited and released.

Each was to be charged with criminal trespassing, which is a misdemeanor. They did not resist arrest and were escorted out of the headquarters at 5661 Fleur Drive without incident.

Twelve people had walked into the headquarters late this morning. They were there to demand that President Obama veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the omnibus spending bill. Police told the protesters that they could either leave the headquarters or be arrested.

By 2:15 p.m., all protesters had left the building.

Norm Sterzenbach, executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party, said the protesters are continuing to deliver the same message they were brought earlier today to the Obama campaign office north of downtown Des Moines.

Demonstrators had been at Obama’s campaign headquarters much of the weekend. However, the office was closed and protesters were not able to talk personally with anyone about their concerns. Demonstrators decided to move the Obama campaign office occupation at approximately 11 to the Democratic party headquarters.

“They don’t want to be hear to listen to us, we decided to go to the state headquarters and make them listen to us,” Occupy member Daniel Bragg said.

Occupiers were at the headquarters about three hours.

“We’ve already gotten more of a hearing here, from the state Democratic Party, than we did at the president’s office. We were able to read our message,” said Frank Cordaro, a protester who works with the Catholic Worker community. “We’re being treated very nicely.”

“We told him (Sterzenbach) we are starting an occupation,” Cordaro said, adding that Sterzenbach didn’t want the protesters there.

A building management representative told the group at the Democratic headquarters that the premises is private property. The building is at 5661 Fleur Drive, across from the airport.
Norm Sterzenbach released the following statement this afternoon following the arrests:

“We listened to their concerns and gave them an opportunity to express their opinion. While we recognize their right to lawful protests, an occupation of our office is not acceptable and only interferes with the work we do to elect Democrats and build a better future for Iowa and our nation. It’s unfortunate that some members chose to face arrest, rather than leave as they were asked to do multiple times. We will continue to have an open dialogue with all Iowans concerned about the important issues facing us.”

The arrests end, for now, the demonstrators’ “annexed” occupations. Protesters on Saturday vowed to remain at President Obama’s campaign office until their demands were met.

At this point, however, there are no plans to re-occupy the campaign office or the Democratic headquarters, occupier Brandon Griffis said.

“That doesn’t mean we might not get together and decide to do that within a day or so,” Griffis added.